A young man who stuttered so badly he could not say his own name is now training to become an actor.

John Paul Cubbin, 22, from Bootle, said he was mocked constantly at school and refused to even try to speak for a year.

He said his twin brother Kevin helped him cope as a teenager, as he was able to speak for him.

But he has now almost entirely overcome his stutter through therapy - and is training to be an actor.

John Paul Cubbin has overcome a stutter so bad he could not say his own name. (Image: John Paul Cubbin)

He has also been in relationships and is a lot more confident, recently landing a job in a Liverpool city centre bar.

He told the ECHO: “I’ve had a stutter since I first started to talk. At high school, it made me insanely low - I couldn’t do something as easy as talking and having to read things out in class absolutely terrified me.

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“It’s one of the worst places to be, as kids can be mean - every day, kids would mock it. I had anxiety too and it was a vicious circle with the stutter. I refused to talk for a whole year.

“It affected my confidence and made me feel I couldn’t get into a relationship if I couldn’t talk.“

John Paul Cubbin pictured as a teenager (Image: John Paul Cubbin)

He said he found his own name intensely difficult - and sometimes found it easier to just say his brother’s name instead. But he said he had always felt much more able to speak fluently while acting, as he could throw himself into the mind of his character.

He studied drama at Hugh Baird College, and is now doing a Masters in creative theatre at Edge Hill University.

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He decided to seek professional help while he was studying when his stutter began to even affect him on stage, leaving him unable to read lines. He said the results had been incredible after several months working with Merseycare’s speech and language therapy service.

He added: “Now you can barely tell I have a stutter, because of the therapy. It’s amazing and has helped me gain confidence.

“My brother helped me a lot when I was younger - but the therapist suggested he start refusing to interrupt and let me finish instead.